The disclosed method and apparatus relate generally to the processing of information received via a network and more particularly to the collection and manipulation of information related to content distributed over networks.
The world wide web is a platform that has been used to exchange various forms of content including videos, text, music, etc. Often this content is distributed to users and/or computers in an ad-hoc fashion, for example, using e-mail or as files embedded in a web page. Recently, primitive forms of “viral” distribution and/or replication of content have been developed that allow users to more easily spread content to other users than previously known ad-hoc methods. Although these primitive methods are more convenient than distributing content in an ad-hoc fashion, they have many shortcomings. For example, they do not provide for the ability to easily add services related to the content and services, if any exist, cannot be dynamically modified. The spreading of content using ad-hoc methods and/or primitive forms of viral spreading cannot be tracked as a service in a useful and efficient way. Moreover, limitations in the ability to track spreading content and to efficiently process any information that can be tracked also limits the ability to dynamically modify behavior associated with the content. Content also cannot be readily shared with users of different platforms (e.g., personal digital assistant to personal computer).
Thus, a need exists for efficiently collecting and manipulating information related to content distributed to users and/or computers.